Investor/Investor Friendly Realtor Working Together in Connecticut

[Michael Noto]

About 2 months ago I met a guy named Rob B through the forums here on Biggerpockets and we have began working together. I am his realtor and he is my client and since we met on BP I thought I would update the community on our experience so far working together.

We began with a preliminary meeting at our office here in CT so we could basically feel each other out. Me getting a sense for what his goals were and Rob probably making sure I was the kind of guy he wanted to do business with. This was a meeting where no contracts or anything were signed, strictly people talking real estate.

After our meeting I set up an auto email through the MLS for Rob based on the specific towns, price, and types of houses he was interested in buying.Within a couple days Rob got back to me with a list of houses he was interested in seeing.

We went out on a Saturday and viewed about 7 multi families in the town of Middletown, CT, a market I am familiar with.Rob knows this market very well too and really did his due diligence upfront on the properties we were planning on looking at. After that day Rob zeroed in on a 2-family that he wanted to go see a second time.  This place has a new roof, newer furnaces, and the interior had been updated. Most importantly the numbers worked for his investment strategy.Rob is planning on occupying a multi-family and taking advantage of his first time homebuyer loan and renting out the other units. Very good strategy when you are starting out as others have talked about on the forums.

Back to the 2nd showing of the 2-family Rob was interested in. I arrived at the house 10-15 minutes before the listing appointment and saw that there was frozen water on the deck. I thought to myself how weird that was because to that point it had not snowed really at all up here. So as I enter the back door I hear this really strange noise.As I turn the corner on the up/down 2-family the noise gets louder and then BAM. Water is EVERYWHERE. Due to the cold weather the upstairs unit had a busted pipe and the house was saturated with water. It had probably been gushing for 2 days minimum.It was incredible to witness and as an investor myself I couldn’t help but feel bad for the owner of that house. Obviously now that house was crossed off the list, on to the next one.

In the coming weeks Rob became interested in another 2 family in the same town. We have had 2 showings on the property and submitted an offer today. Out of respect for all of those involved in the negotiations I will hold off on specifics, but will update this thread on how the negotiations go.

Rob is extremely organized and detail oriented and has been a pleasure to work with throughout this process. As a relatively experienced investor it is easy for me to see that Rob “gets it” and I truly think he is putting himself in a position for success. Oh yeah, and if he wasn’t I would be right there with his best interests at heart to let him know. When I wear my realtor hat that’s my job and a responsibility I take seriously.

Like I mentioned earlier I will update this thread as the negotiations move along.